Sunday, 22 April 2012

Kenya's controversial anti-counterfeiting law "too broad"

You can haveboth: Michel Sidibé

In "Kenyan High Court’s Overturning Of Anti-Counterfeit Law Hailed", 21 April 2012, Intellectual Property Watch reported that, last Friday, 20 April, the High Court of Kenya ruled that the country’s controversial Anti-Counterfeit Act, which was passed in 2008, was too broad and could interfere with the flow of legal generic medicines to patients. The court added that intellectual property rights should not be put before life and health.

“A vast majority of people in Kenya rely on quality generic drugs for their daily survival. Through this important ruling, the High Court of Kenya has upheld a fundamental element of the right to health,”

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said in a release, noting that it was possible to have both generic drugs and strong anti-counterfeit laws.

Giving judgment in the High Court, Judge Mumbi Ngugi described the Act as being vague and said that it could undermine access to affordable generic medicines since it failed to distinguish clearly between counterfeit and generic medicines.